


certain sounds

by untiltheveryend



Series: the quiet passing of time [2]
Category: Young Wizards - Diane Duane
Genre: F/M, Fluff, and not a lot of plot, just a day in the life of earths newest planetary and her dork of a boyfriend, thats it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-07-17 23:06:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7289680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/untiltheveryend/pseuds/untiltheveryend
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'Ah, there you are,' Kit said from the doorway. She looked up and saw that he was grinning lopsidedly at her. </p><p>'Where else were you expecting me to be?' Nita asked him, teasingly. Kit rolled his eyes. </p><p>'Sure, be sarcastic. But I for one have not forgotten that one time I came back from a five minute trip to the store and where were you? Oh that's right, Antarctica.' </p><p>Nita huffed out a laugh. 'There are safety nets now,' she said. 'Even the safety nets have safety nets.' </p><p>Kit grinned at her. 'Still never forgetting it.'</p>
            </blockquote>





	certain sounds

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this after I reread A Wizard of Mars back in April. Then I forgot I wrote it. Then I found it. That was today. This hasn't been edited. So. Enjoy that!
> 
> Also, the concept of calling somebody using a specific version of their name is stolen shamelessly from Dianna Wynne Jones Chrestomanci series but I thought it tied in well with the YW canon so there you go.

'Neets?' The sound of Kits voice carrying through the apartment jerked Nita from her state of heavy absorption. She rubbed her eyes and glanced at her watch - three o'clock already! She'd sat down to sort out this subroutine right after lunch, so it was no wonder her head was aching.  
  
'Ah, there you are,' Kit said from the doorway. She looked up and saw that he was grinning lopsidedly at her.  
  
'Where else were you expecting me to be?' Nita asked him, teasingly. Kit rolled his eyes.  
  
'Sure, be sarcastic. But I for one have not forgotten that one time I came back from a five minute trip to the store and where were you? Oh that's right, Antarctica.'

Nita huffed out a laugh. 'There are safety nets now,' she said. 'Even the safety nets have safety nets.'  
  
Kit grinned at her. 'Still never forgetting it.'  
  
Nita laughed. 'Fine, don't. How are Tom and Carl, by the way?'  
  
'They're good,' Kit said. 'No real news on that front.'  
  
'Oh? On what front is there news?'  
  
Kit made a brief face that Nita recognised immediately.  
  
'I thought Mela was out-of-system, busy setting up a new franchise on one of the water planets out in sector eleven,' Nita said.  
  
'What are you, plucking thoughts right of my head now?' Kit asked, throwing his hands up in mock exasperation.  
  
'Not that,' Nita said. 'You’re just easy to read.’  
  
'You mean, I have a micro-expression specific to 'my sister is returning at short notice from one of her intergalactic business ventures and so we are being summoned to family dinner tonight'?'  
  
Nita laughed. 'Yep.'  
  
'Good to know!'  
  
Nita rolled her eyes. 'So what time is dinner?'  
  
'Seven,' Kit said. 'I'm gonna make fajita filling and maybe a salad. Even Mama has stopped nitpicking my fajitas.'  
  
'That's because they are amazing,' Nita said, with the reverence of a person who could barely boil an egg.  
  
Kit smiled. 'You think everything I cook is amazing.'  
  
'Because it always is!' Nita said, laughing at her own enthusiasm.  
  
'Well, if the fajitas are going to live up to this kind of hype then I need to go to the store real quick. Are you okay managing the Crisis Hotline while I’m gone?'  
  
Nita rolled her eyes. The 'Crisis Hotline' was Kits favourite way to refer to the constant possibility of a wizard turning up on their doorstep with a question, problem and, yes, often a crisis. The perks of being a Senior. Not that Nita was a senior, which meant that really the whole thing wasn't actually her problem.  
  
'Of course I am. If anyone starts crying I'll ping you...' Much to Kits chagrin he was much better at dealing with the crying ones than Nita was. Kit grimaced and then turned to head out of the room, probably toward the kitchen.  
  
'Well you better be here when I get back!' Kit called back to her. 'I'm not taking excuses for dinner, Juanita Lo-'  
  
'That was one time!' Nita yelled at him, and then rolled her eyes when the only response she got was a faint snicker.  
  
She turned her attention back to her manual, open before her. Deciding that the subroutine could wait a few hours, she paged through to a different section that supplied her with a live summary of any local (read: system-wide) events of note. She picked up one of her many pads of post its and started scribbling reminders to herself.  
  
A few minutes later - maybe more, Nita could never be quite sure about time when she was lost in her manual like this - she felt a stirring of air behind her, warm and sticky.  
  
Nita frowned. Maybe Kit had left the door open when he left. Only, the air wasn't that sticky in the city, even in the middle of summer. Nita spun around in her chair, but there was nothing there but the bookshelf of worn reference books and science fiction novels that had filled the wall since they'd moved in.  
  
'Kit?' Nita called. There was no reply. Something prickled at the back of her spine and then there was a flash of power, overloading her senses like a bright flash of light. Oh shit, Nita thought, and then everything went black.  
  
A second later, she was standing in a tropical jungle, the heat and humidity oppressive under the canopy of leaves and winding vines.  
  
_Kit is going to kill me_ , was Nita's first thought, and then, _Bobo?_  
  
_At your service_ , replied wizardry itself. Nita rolled her eyes.

 _Did all of the normal spells get set off?_ Nita asked silently.

 _Everything worked seamlessly. Pings sent to Kit and Venus and the holo is active_ , Bobo replied, with what Nita rather thought was a hint of smugness.

 _Okay_ , Nita thought, _which means there is only one thing to do - figure out where the hell I am and why._

 _Your current location is 0°49'07.7"N, 114°21'15.5"E_ , Bobo supplied, promptly.

‘Oh, that’s very helpful,’ Nita muttered under her breath. ‘Just give me a locality, please!’

 _You are on the island of Borneo, in the East Kalimantan sector_.

 _Great_ , Nita thought. _And who-_

Before Nita could finish the thought, there was a sudden movement away to her right and behind her and she spun around to see a small dark haired girl, her small hands curled protectively over something that was glowing, the light spilling out between her fingers.

‘Are you Juanita Callahan?’ The girl asked, and Nita didn’t need to hear the tremble of the last two words to know what they really were - every atom in her body responded to the Call, trying to bring themselves as close as possible to the one who had Called them, only to find themselves already there and coming to a sudden stop, leaving Nita with a sensation not dissimilar to whiplash.

‘Yes,’ Nita said hurriedly, ‘And for the One’s sake, stop saying my name like that.’

The girl looked up at Nita, and she was shocked to see them brimming with tears. From sadness, rage or despair, Nita did not know. The only thing she could be sure of so far, was that this girl had more power than she knew what to do with. Nita could sense it leaking out of her, stirring inside her like the tremors before an earthquake.

 _What on Earth-?_ Nita thought. _What I need is more data. Maybe it’s time for a more formal approach._

‘May the Powers and the One ask through me, what is your name and of what purpose have you invoked mine?’ Nita said, feeling the power of her on invocation stirring the air around her.

‘I am Murni and I called you because of this.’ Murni unfurled her hands, drawing them apart to reveal a glowing tangle of light that stretched and out to the size of a large-ish basketball. ‘The essence needs you.’

 _Damn_ , thought Nita. _I am definitely going to be late for dinner…_

 

\--

 

Nita appeared in the living room of the apartment with a loud pop of displaced air, a testament to her general state of irritability.

‘Hey,’ Kit said casually, from where he was sitting on one of their beat-up faux-leather couches. ‘Your hologram gave Sage a fright, you might want to work on making it a little more approachable.’

Nita glared at him.

‘Hey, Nita! Long time no see,’ Sage said. ‘Uh, not to be rude but why are you so wet?’

Nita sighed. As if the fact that she was dripping wet and her hair was full of pond scum wasn’t enough, now she was being forced to deal with the abject horror of a cheerful college student.

‘When I signed up to be a planetary, I imagined it being a lot more glamorous than this,’ Nita said, addressing neither Kit nor Sage but rather the universe in general.

Kit snorted and Nita turned her glare back on him. She mustered what dignity she could and said, ‘I am going to go have a shower. And then I am calling Guiat-Lian to tell her she has a live-wire on her hands.’

Kit’s eyebrows shot up. ‘A jube[1] dragged you halfway round the world and dunked you in a pond?’

‘You two do talk some shit sometimes,’ Sage said, glancing between them like they were a slightly puzzling sort of alien life form.

Nita rolled her eyes. ‘I’m going now.’ She turned and stalked out of the room, still dripping.

‘Don’t drip on the carpet!’ Kit yelled after her. Nita sighed, and then silently plucked an abridged version of her manual out of the air beside her to find a quick spell to waterproof the carpet in their bedroom.

By the time she had showered, twisted her hair up away from her face and gotten dressed in her favourite jeans and a light cotton top, she was feeling a heck of a lot less irritated. The ability for wizards world-wide to Call her at any time was a very necessary part of her job, and it allowed her to have restricted mind-speak and manual-call privileges for which she was thankful.  

Nita sat down on the edge of the unmade bed and flipped her manual open. ‘Guiat-Lian,’ she said, while the pages were still falling open. The page containing Guiat-Lian’s basic info flattened itself obediently.

She pressed a finger to the glowing script that designated Guit-Lian’s name in the Speech and asked out loud, ‘Current call privilege availability?’

 _Line open_ , Bobo replied.

‘Make the call then, please,’ Nita said with a slight grin. She would never get over the ridiculousness of saying ‘please’ to wizardry itself.

In front of her, the air shimmered and re-formed itself into a hazy image of Guiat-Lian’s face.

‘Honoured planetary!’ Lian cried in the Speech, grinning at Nita. ‘To what do I owe the pleasure?’

Nita snorted. ‘I’ve told you a million times to drop the title, Lian,’ she scolded.

‘Which is what makes it all the more pleasing to say,’ Lian said.

‘I can see I am not winning this argument,’ Nita said, ‘So I am gracefully dropping the subject. And anyway, I only have a minute. It’s family dinner at Kit’s tonight.’

‘This must be important, then,’ Lian said. Nita could see worry gathering at the corners of her eyes.

‘Important, yes. But not so bad, really. You heard anything from your Advisories about a girl called Murni? She was on Ordeal up until today.’

Nita heard the distant sound of Lian flipping through her own manual. ‘A young one, right?’

Nita nodded. ‘With power levels to match. And if I am any judge, they won’t be dropping quickly.’

‘You saw her?’ Lian’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

‘I did more than that,’ Nita said. ‘I got dumped in the middle of some jungle in Borneo with her and got dragged into her game of cat and mouse with the Lone Power.’

Lian’s eyes went wide. ‘Power sanctioned?’

‘ _Murni_ sanctioned,’ Nita said, emphatically. ‘She Called me, Li.’

Lian said a word that was about as close as it got in the Speech to swearing, and then added another word in her own language that Bobo helpfully translated as a short burst of static.

‘While I’m on the topic of stuff that really shouldn’t even be able to happen, she somehow managed to get her hands on the Kernel and was using it to make local changes.’ If Lian’s eyes had gone wide before, they nearly bugged out of her head at this.

‘Power’s above, what is this girl?’ Lian breathed.

Nita shrugged, flipping through pages in her manual with one hand to find the pages with the record of her interaction with Murni. ‘Her power levels alone were high enough to concern me. And her ability with the Kernel…’ Nita trailed off.

‘Needs to be watched,’ Lian finished, tone grim.

Nita laughed. ‘And guess who is going to be doing the watching?’

Lian sighed. ‘You want me to put together a report?’

‘Yeah, just something basic to put out to your Advisories. I’ve already got all the details I need.’’ Lian laughed, and Nita grinned back. ‘And go pay her a visit will you? I got the feeling there was a bit of a culture clash between her and me, and I’d like to have some idea of what her circumstances are.’

‘Yes, boss,’ Lian said. ‘Now go get ready for that dinner. By my money, you're probably running late already.’

Nita glanced at her watch and groaned. ‘I am, actually. Dai, cousin.’

‘Dai stiho,’ Lian said, and cut the call.

Nita flopped back onto the bed with a sigh, and then reached over to close her manual and stuff it unceremoniously back into the otherspace pocket where it normally lived. She wandered out of the bedroom and let her nose guide her down the hall into the kitchen.

Kit was absorbed, bending over the pan that was the source of the delicious aroma Nita had followed into the room. ‘Mmmm,’ Nita said. ‘Smells amazing!’

Kit looked up with a distracted smile. His hair was curlier than usual in the slight humidity of the kitchen, and he was flushed from the heat. Nita smiled back at him fondly.

‘What did Sage want, I forgot to ask earlier,’ Nita said, hopping up onto the bench.

Kit rolled his eyes, stirring the pan of chicken fajita mix with one hand. ‘Boy trouble I think. She kept talking around it.’

Nita laughed. ‘Since when are you the expert on boys? You should’ve told her to ask Matt.’

‘Neets,’ Kit said, with a wounded look. ‘I am a boy. I know about boy trouble! Plus, what did you want me to do, tell her “You seem like you are having relationship issues and my area of expertise is girls, so here is the number of my gay friend who will sort you out, no problem!”? I’m not sure that would have gone down so well.’

‘Okay, okay,’ Nita managed through a fit of laughter. ‘I guess that was a stupid thing to say.’

Kit gave the chicken a last stir and then flourished his wooden spoon. ‘Done!’

‘I’ll lay out a transport circle,’ Nita said.

‘Don’t forget the fajita variable!’ Kit called teasingly after her. Nita made a face to herself, mumbling under her breath, ‘That was one time. Just one time and he never lets it go…’

 

\--

 

Nita and Kit popped into existence in the Rodriguez backyard with little more than a slight ripple of air. Kit made a face at Nita. ‘Show off.’

Before Nita could reply, a small bundle of fur and legs tumbled through the back door, greeting them in a deafening mixture of canine language and Speech.

_Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi! Lemme lick you! Hi! Hi! What’s on your feet? Hi!_

Nita rolled her eyes at the antics of the terrier-cross puppy that was the most recent addition to the Rodriguez household. As the dog inspected both of their shoes thoroughly, Nita reached over and grabbed Kit’s hand. The first few times they’d arrived in the backyard and were greeted with boisterous barking, it had taken a moment for Kit to remember that it wasn’t Ponch after all. Kit squeezed her hand and gave her a smile that meant, _I’m alright but thank you._

Nita and Kit made their way across the yard toward the open backdoor. The long summer evening was slipping slowly into dusk, and the lights were on inside spilling out across the back step like so much spilled sunshine.

Kit’s Mom stepped into the doorway as they approached and smiled broadly at them both. ‘Look at you guys! So cute.’

Kit rolled his eyes and let go of Nita’s hand to wrap his Mom in a one-armed hug.

‘Hey, Mama,’ he said. ‘We brought fajita filling and a salad.’

‘We?’ Nita said, laughing. Kit made a face at her as he lot go of his Mom. Nita stepped forward for a hug of her own. ‘Hey, Marina.’

‘If I live to see the day when you two stop bickering I’ll be a lucky woman,’ Kit’s Mom teased, and Nita laughed, stepping into the kitchen and setting down the salad on a bench.

‘Neets!’ Carmela called, flinging herself across the room and attaching herself to Nita octopus style.

‘Hey, Mela. How’re you?’ Nita said, hugging back.

‘Better now I’ve seen you! I have a couple questions actually-’

Nita made a face. ‘If it’s about intergalactic business law again, you’d be better off asking Sker-ret than me.’

Carmela laughed. ‘Sker-ret? He’s useless. I’ve got a Temerian lawyer on that now. Actually, I have a funny story about that…’

Nita smiled easily, letting Carmela’s chatter flow over her and laughing at the right bits. Nita missed this, maybe more than she was willing to admit. But with Mela out-of-system so much and Nita’s travel restrictions as Planetary, their catch-ups had been far too infrequent recently.

Mela’s story was definitely winding to a close now. ‘And then he asked me if I knew of any good sx’kerr places and I nearly died, I’m telling you.’

‘Sounds like fun,’ Nita said, placidly.

‘Oh it is! But anyway, how have you been? Busy saving the planet?’ Carmela snorted at her own joke.

Nita rolled her eyes. ‘Not exactly. Mostly, it turns out that being Planetary is just paperwork. Although there are moments when I wonder what in the One’s name I’ve gotten myself into. Like when I am trying to mediate a parley between the different currents in the mediterranean sea.’

‘Currents have opinions?’ Carmela asked, eyebrows raised questioningly.

‘Turns out, yeah,’ Nita said. ‘Wait, didn’t you want to ask me something?’

‘Right, yeah!’ Carmela said, ‘It’s about Dairine actually.’

Nita’s eyebrows shot up in turn. ‘Dari? What about her?’

Any answer Carmela might have been about to give was summarily murdered by Kit lovingly slapping his hand over her mouth and announcing that dinner was ready. ‘Enough of this chit chat, we have real business to attend to.’

‘What, stuffing yourself full of as much of Mom’s cooking as you possibly can?’ Carmela said.

‘I cooked some of it!’ Kit protested.

‘Oh no,’ Carmela said, and then stage-whispered to Nita, ‘I’m too young to die.’

Kit made a face at both of them, as Nita laughed.

‘I knew that I was going to regret the two of you being friends,’ Kit said, sighing dramatically.

Nita reached over and poked him in the ribs. ‘Lighten up! Mela’s only insulting your cooking because she is worried it’s gonna be better than your Mom’s and she’ll be upset.’

Carmela smirked, turning to head into the dining room. ‘Since when can you read my mind, Neets? It’s a little creepy if I’m honest.’

‘I know, right?’ Kit called after her, and then grinned at Nita.

‘Shall we?’

Nita grinned back. ‘Yes, lets.’

 

\--

 

Dinner passed in a blur of good food and easy conversation. Rodriguez family dinner’s had once been an almost weekly affair, as familiar as breathing. These days, with Kit and Nita in New York and Carmela always galavanting out of the galaxy on some new business venture, not to speak of Helena off in Montreal working the fashion circuit, nights like this one were more and more rare.

Perhaps, Nita thought, they were all the more precious for being few and far between.

‘Can you please pass those beans, Nita,’ Kit’s Dad asked, snapping her out of her reverie.

‘Here you go,’ Nita said, handing over the dish.

‘So Nita, how is Earth going?’ Kit’s Mom asked, placidly.

Nita almost laughed out loud at the frustrated expression on Kit’s face.

‘Mama, I keep telling you. Just because Nita is our planetary, doesn’t mean she’s some kind of weather reporter for the state of the Earth.’

‘I know, dear. I was just asking generally.’

Nita decided to jump in before Kit’s eyes rolled right out of his head. ‘Earth is good thanks, Marina.’

‘That’s good,’ Kit’s Mom said with a smile.

‘Any good stories recently,’ Kit’s father asked, his eyes crinkling with amusement.

‘Well,’ Nita said, ‘I do have a good one about Borneo…’

 

\--

 

They got home late, throats sore from talking and laughing. Nita could feel her mascara smudging onto her cheeks, knew that her eyes were drooping.

‘Bed,’ Kit said, simply. Nita just nodded.

They took turns at the sink, Nita leaning on the doorway and checking her manual for local updates while Kit brushed his teeth. By the time Nita was finished moisturising, Kit was tugging his shirt over his head in readiness for sleeping bare-chested like he always did in Summer.

‘Mela was asking me about Dari, after dinner,’ Nita said, suddenly.

‘Yeah?’

‘Stuff about her and Roshaun, I’m not really sure. Did she say anything to you?’

Kit shrugged. ‘No, but why would she?’

‘I don’t know, it’s just worrying me a bit.’

Kit flopped onto the bed, and Nita followed him, pulling a thin sheet over them both.

‘It’s probably nothing, Neets.’

Nita sighed. Kit rolled closer and tangled the fingers of one hand in the loose strands of her hair, pulled down from the messy up-do she’d thrown together earlier.

‘Just because you are the Planetary, doesn't mean every problem on the planet is yours to solve,’ Kit said softly.

‘I know,’ Nita said, voice small. Kit hummed in response.

‘That girl in Borneo,’ Nita started.

‘The one who dropped the Lone Power in a scummy pond?’ Kit said, grinning.

‘Yeah, her,’ Nita said. ‘She’s so powerful. It’s almost like…’

‘Like something big is coming?’ Kit finished.

Nita sighed. ‘I know that isn’t how the Powers work, usually. But I can’t help it. I keep worrying that everything is going to come undone.’

Kit slid his hand out of Nita’s hair and cupped his hand over her cheek. ‘The universe is not going to be unmade on my watch, or any other wizard’s for that matter.’

Nita curled into Kit’s touch, her eyes falling shut. ‘Okay,’ she said, voice small.

‘Okay.’

‘Everything’s okay,’ Nita mumbled, the last thing she said before sinking into sleep, cradled in a cocoon of warm hands and soft sheets and the feeling of being safe.

Of being home.

**Author's Note:**

> 1 An aussie military slang word for 'new recruit' that Kit probably got off Matt and is one of a handful of words that Kit and Nita use to tell each other things (or in this case, ask each other about things) that they don't want to share with the class. [return to text]


End file.
